Illinois charges retailers' occupation tax / private party vehicle use tax (form ST-556) of 6.25% at the state level, and local jurisdictions add their own, which brings a typical vehicle to about 7.5%. A trade-in does reduce the taxable price, which is real money on the deal.
Type your own numbers and see the same car priced as cash and as a loan, with the taxes and state fees for Illinois. Nothing you type leaves this page.
To see a lease, pick a vehicle. A lease is priced on one car: what it is expected to be worth at the end (its residual) and the leasing company's money factor change by model and by month.
An estimate on the numbers you type, not an offer of credit or a quote from any dealership. Starting loan rates are Rateous's rates for each credit range and term; they are not an offer from any lender. The documentary fee starts at an example figure, the state's legal cap where it has one or $599 where it does not, not any dealership's fee; each dealership sets its own. Taxes and state fees are estimates for Illinois; the dealership's paperwork and your motor vehicle agency have the final numbers. Nothing you type is sent, saved, or used to check your credit.
Per the IDOR auto rate file (effective 2026-08-01), most of the state charges only the 6.25% state rate on vehicles: county and municipal home-rule taxes generally do not apply to titled vehicles. Local tax on vehicles applies in the RTA region: Cook County 7.50% combined (1.25% local), the collar counties (DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, Will) 7.25% (1.00% local), plus 1.25% more if the vehicle is registered in the City of Chicago (Cook 8.75%, collar 8.50%). A few downstate counties add 0.25%.
The applicable rate is the dealer's location rate; the Chicago home-rule use tax is added based on the registration address.
Manufacturer rebates and factory incentives do not reduce the taxable price; dealer discounts do.
Leases of one year or more: tax is due at inception on the total of the scheduled payments plus any down payment (ST-556-LSE).
On a $35,000 new car with a $37,000 sticker, registered in Chicago, no trade-in: the same figures the calculator above uses. The dealership's documentary fee is its own and is not included.
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Title fee | $165.00 |
| Registration (est., flat based) | $151.00 |
| In all | $316.00 |
Illinois taxes a lease up front: the tax on the total of all your lease payments is due in full at signing, not spread across the payments.
Pick your city for the exact combined rate where you register, plus what title and registration run there.
Illinois charges 6.25% at the state level and local jurisdictions add more, so a typical combined rate on a vehicle is about 7.5% and can reach 8.75% at the high end. The rate is set by the dealership location, so pick your city above for the exact figure.
The $10,000 trade-in credit cap was repealed effective January 1, 2022; the full trade-in value now reduces the taxable price.
On a $35,000 new car with a $37,000 sticker, registered in Chicago: Title fee $165.00, Registration (est., flat based) $151.00, about $316.00 in all. Standard passenger plate registration $151 per year (plates included). Electric vehicles pay $251.
Yes, at $377.63. The cap started at $300 in 2020 and rises with inflation each January; $377.63 is the 2026 figure.
Illinois taxes a lease up front: the tax on the total of all your lease payments is due in full at signing, not spread across the payments.